An Edwardian garden party

This remarkable though faded photograph survives from circa 1900-10 and shows a garden party in progress somewhere in Bourne, almost certainly at one of the houses in the neighbourhood of the Abbey Church which is most likely the building that can be seen behind the chimney stacks in the top left hand corner.

The venue therefore is probably one of two places, Cavalry House or Bourne Eau House, then called The Cedars, both in South Street and within sight of the church tower.

The photograph shows a garden party in progress on a summer's afternoon and the guests are obviously the great and the good of the town, only too pleased to be asked, but all obviously enjoying themselves on a very pleasurable occasion.

Their hosts were therefore one of two people. Albert Dainty (1844-1902) was a retired farmer who lived at Cavalry House during his final years and frequently opened the extensive gardens for public functions such as garden fetes and band concerts. The other possibility is local businessman and councillor William Wherry (1841-1915) who bought The Cedars in 1894 and lived there until he died. He and his wife Emily were also very much involved in community life and so this may be an event held in their garden.

The summer house was also probably built locally because it closely resembles another built in the garden of Shillaker House in the Austerby by Harry Shillaker (1865-1924) for his wife Annie, a talented artist, and converted for her use as a studio, but this was of a more elaborate design and finally disappeared when the house was demolished in 1954 to make way for a block of flats known as Shillaker Court which still occupies the site.

See also     William Wherry     Harry Shillaker